The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1887-01-13

anu Sdlu unto MIN, Wnere arG lnOu -
Gen. 80.
The seeking of Adam by the Almighty,
in garden which God himself had made,
might strike oddly upon the senses of
that individual who loves to place lit
eral construction upon the language of
the old testament. This oddity may be
aptly illustrated by quoting All old Ger
man minister of this place who preached
from this text many years ago. 81 will
divide my sermon into two parts. said
he. "In the first place, God didn't know
where Adam was, and wanted to find
him. In the next place, God did know
where Adam was-for God knoweth all
thingsl' So the old gentleman proceeded
to preach upon the contradictory charac-
ter of the Creator. The thought is not
grasped at once that it was not desire to
learn of his whereabouts, but the purpose
to compel him to discover himself and
appear before the Creator he had disobey-
ed, which prompted the call. Adam had
made a great mistake. He very much
desired to set up the claim that he had
been the victim of circumstances-that
he had ten lucklessly thrown into the
company of a woman and a snake, and
had thus been dragged down.
Adams mistake was the same mistake
made by mankind along down the line of
the years, even unto this day.
The realization of Gods infinite powers
of discernment, the thought that he can
look into the very life and purpose of his
creatures, is what the creature himself
needs to get hold of. Adams hiding was
caused by shame. He was an out-and-out
sinner, with no excuse, whatever, except
| his own lack of frmneSS. The same trait
has never left the human race. The apple
| is eaten in different shapes and in differ
ent ways. 1t does not require that man
be naked and stealing apples in the Lords
garden, to make up case of disobedience
and sinfulness. The field of disobedience
is a wide one, and one of varied resources
and possibilities. The character of the
sin-the shape of the forbidden apple, is
as varied as the scope of human life and
| experience.
See that old gentleman who, nervous
and fretful, strives to make it as un-
pleasant as possible for all those with
1 whom he is thrown in contact. He feels
his right to existence and enjoyment, and
cannot understand why any one should
seek to interfere with the full exercise of
his self-will. That was the trouble with
Adam. Why should the Creator plant a
tree that bore fruit, yet deny Adams
right to eat the whole lot? The fretful,
quarrelsome man, violates one of the
great virtueS-patience.
Take the man, for example, who is
fond of cigar. He sits down contentedly
in the midst of a crowd of gentlemen
and ladies, and rolls out volume after
volume of smoke, as unconcerned as
though he was giving that crowd the
grandest treat imaginable. He is enjoy
ing himself, what right has anybody to
object? True you may conceive the idea
that he, like Adam is striving to hide his
| imperfections in smoke-that he is naked
regarding some of the great virtues of
life, and throws up the veil of smoke to
prevent the great eye of Righteousness
from seeing him. That man, in the en-
joyment of his habit, feels that-especially
in that crowd, he is doing something that
he is ashamed of. Imagine Adam sitting
contentedly under a tree, in the Garden
of Eden, with cigar in his mouth, roll
ing out clouds of smoke into the face of
the blessed Master. Then, indeed, it
would not be surprising that the good
Master should repent him of having
made man. That smoker who makes a
nuisance of himself in crowd, is eating
the apple of Eden, in that he pursues his
own pleasure, to the inconvenience and
actual injury of others. Adam thought
or tried to think-that God had no pro-
prietary right in that apple tree that he
Adam, was bound to respect. So the So
ciety smoker thinks, or tries to think
that the most delicate lady has no right
that the strong man is bound to respect
He has right to the exercise of his own
inclinations. So had Adam, but he finally
got into trouble about it.
1t is not for US to sit down and bewail
Adams error. The great lesson of his
misfortune should have a tendency to
make men better, and to teach the dan
gers of waywardness and disobedience.
But we seem to be as a race not much
improved by the lesson. The trouble
with mankind now is that there are apple
trees at every crook and turn in the way
of life, and the women and the serpents
are here, too. The temptation is as great
as it was in the case of the first man. 1t
is not simply the avoidance of one tree,
| in obedience to the divine command, but
the avoidance of whole forest of trees.
The temptations seem to be as numerous
as the enjoyments. There seems to be
one change for the benefit of man how
ever, Judging from a worldly standpoint.
He may take the forbidden apples of sin,
with impunity, in so far as the world is
concerned, and has nothing to hide. But
let the poor woman attempt to play the
part of hardened sinner, and nothing
can hide her from the gaze of a shocked
and sanity world. In many cases man
still blames his fall upon the wickedness
of woman. This excuse for trespassing,
however, is not good one. To go still
further, and blame his fall upon the
snakes, might be more plausible. Many
mean act done by man is to be charged
directly to the influence and wiles of the
serpents. A great deal of the sinfulness
of man, and a great deal of the consequent
misery in the world, not to consider the
woe beyond this life, would be avoided
but for the serpents that lie hidden along
life's pathway. Yet, shall this be used
as an excuse for mans weakness? When
Eve informed the serpent that she would
surely die, for God had so declared, if she
should partake of the fruit of a certain
tree, the serpent declared that such was
not the case-that there was no danger
With this assurance from the serpent, the
tree was attacked. The same serpent
still says to mankind, 'partake of this